A STALWART of right-wing politics in South Africa, Herstigde Nasionale Party (HNP) leader Jaap Marais, has died at the age of 77. One of the gentlemen of South African politics, Marais died in a Pretoria hospital last night barely an hour after being admitted with what is thought to have been a bleeding ulcer. He became the leader of the HNP in 1977, but in recent years had become an increasingly isolated voice on the South African political landscape. He leaves his wife, a son and daughter and six grandchildren.